Steelhead for Dummies (Part 3 of 3)

Part 3 - Brule Side Trip

Conditions Saturday morning were similar to Friday, with one exception.  The river was considerably lower.  Water that may have comfortably held resting fish was now clearly visible to eyes from above.  We fished the same water as before with hopes that a few fish would still run.

Bayes briefly hooked into a good fish shortly after we started fishing, but it didn't stay on long.  I managed to bring in a couple 8 inch rainbows.  Then the fishing seemed to completely shut down.  We fished the rest of the morning and into mid-afternoon without so much as a bite.  As we were about to leave to check out new water, we got a report that the Brule was on fire.  We had been kicking around the idea of heading over there anyway, so this info sealed the deal.  We quickly checked out of our motel and made the hour and a half drive over to Brule, Wisconsin.  While buying our licenses at the local bait shop, we got a less-optimistic report.  He told us the water had been high all week, nearly unfishable.  The water was starting to come down, but fish caught were few and far between.   Oh well, we were here. Time to go see for ourselves. 

The scenery surrounding this River was remarkably different.  It looked like the type of River to film a movie on.  The views from the forest trails above the River made the drive worth it, even if we never saw a fish.  The snow once again started to fall.  But now there were trees  to block the bitter wind.  For the first time this trip, the conditions were relaxing, calm, and peaceful. 

The river was running fast and deep.  Trees all along the banks made finding a place to cast from difficult.  When we did fish good looking runs, we were reminded that there were many trees underwater as well.  Snags were frequent and annoying.

We hiked close to a mile, stopping to fish several spots along the way.  There were so many places the fish could be, and we were running out of time trying to find them.  We fished until dark without any luck.  The decision was made to head back to our motel on North Shore for the night.  We felt our chances of getting into fish in the morning were better there.  Better odds don't necessarily mean better results.  We gave it one last shot Sunday morning, but we wouldn't see another fish. 

The drive to get Bayes to the airport on time had us reflecting on our thoughts of the trip.  We were both glad we went.  Bayes caught his first Steelhead.  I caught my first Kamloops Rainbow, which was also my biggest trout.  We fished numerous new rivers in two states.  But mostly we were just glad our feet were finally starting to thaw out. 

- The rest of the pictures from the trip will be posted to the albums on the right-hand side of the page.